Meet 330 Lawmakers Who Made 2013 "A Terrible Year for Women's Health"

[xchrom]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/state-legislators-sponsored-abortion-restriction-2014



Looking back at the legislative landscape in 2013, you have to give anti-choice lawmakers points for creativity. In South Carolina last year, one male senator managed to introduce six different bills making it harder for women to get abortions. In Arizona, a bill about child therapy morphed into a law that opens abortion clinics up to surprise state inspections without a warrant. In Iowa, a rape victim now needs the governor to sign off on Medicaid funding for her abortion. And in North Carolina, a new "Motorcycle Safety Act" contains more provisions about abortion than it does about motorcycle safety.

In all, lawmakers in 22 states enacted 70 new provisions that curbed reproductive rights—that's more new abortion restrictions than there were in any year but 2011. Earlier this month, the Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that supports abortion rights, reported that more new restrictions have passed in the last three years than in the entire previous decade.



"[It] was a terrible year for women's health," says Gretchen Borchelt, the director of state reproductive health policy for the National Women's Law Center. Republicans' sweeping gains in the 2010 elections gave them control of 25 state legislatures, power that was often used to push through abortion restrictions. "One of the biggest trends we saw was politicians running roughshod over the political process," Borchelt says. "We saw that in Texas where they kept calling special sessions to ram through an omnibus abortion bill."

Using data from the Guttmacher Institute, BillTrack50, and Open States, Mother Jones analyzed 178 anti-abortion bills* proposed in 32 states. In all, more than 330 state lawmakers proposed 476 provisions to restrict women's access to abortions and reproductive services. Here are some of the key results—including what to expect in 2014. To view the full data, click here.

[AnneD]

1. The push back is about to begin....

Starting with Texas. Wendy Davis is tearing it up and has Dewhurst changing his depends. She is giving the rest of the GOP ulcers.

[redqueen]

2. K&R